Professor Peter Wallensteen and Lecturer Daniel Ogden will continue their popular Philosophy Tea talks. The individuals they highlight have contributed to global thinking in different ways: through high-level diplomacy, utopian writings and historical studies.

Ibn Khaldun was an early path-breaking Arab historian and sociologist. He lived 1332-1406 (732-808 according to the Muslim calendar) and his major work An Introduction to World History (al-Muqaddima or Prolegomena) from the late 1300s has a number of systematic ideas on civilizations, the rise and fall of dynasties and the uses of power; as well as unique historical records. He was born in Tunisia into an Arab family with an Andalusian background and Berber roots. He lived a dramatic life in the Arab world of the time from Morocco to Mecca, both as a scholar and as a policy maker. For instance, he negotiated with the Mongol conqueror Timur Lenk/Tamerlane during the siege of Damascus in 1401.
In this third Philosophy Tea of the autumn of 2017 Peter Wallensteen and Daniel Ogden will discuss Ibn Khaldun’s thinking on peace, war, power and change, as well as his relevance today.

‘Government is an institution which prevents injustice other than such as it commits itself.’
Ibn Khaldun, al-Muqaddima (Prolegomena).

Daniel Ogden is a researcher and teacher of utopian ideas, for many years at Uppsala University and now at Mälardalen University. Peter Wallensteen was the first holder of the Dag Hammarskjöld Chair in Peace and Conflict Research (1985-2012) and is now Senior Professor at Uppsala University.

Each philosophy tea session lasts one hour, with the final twenty minutes being reserved for an open discussion with the audience. The sessions are run in English.